


Bench Trial (A Re-Write)

by Portalwolf0



Series: Attorneys of Hell [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, And Romance, Angst, Enemies, F/M, Hate Sex, Laywer AU, Rewrite, Sexual Tension, and Stuffs, but fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-28
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-29 20:13:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15080846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Portalwolf0/pseuds/Portalwolf0
Summary: Attorney Adam B. Gold, hasn't lost a case in eight years; but what will happen when he finally collides with Miss Lacey French?





	1. Rude Awakening

**Author's Note:**

> Ello' all. After a few years of studying and chaotic life stuffs, I'm back to continue and rewrite this story. Storyline will still follow the previous one, I just wanted to give it some more meat, flesh it out, and have some more fun.

It wasn't long until the the judge was bound to arrive in the courtroom. In the small chatter, the clacking of a cane could be heard as it tapped against the tile floor as Adam B. Gold walked towards his defendant and took his seat, spreading his notes and paper work across the table.

  
Previously from Storybrooke, Adam Gold was known to be one of the very best Lawyers in New York and the New England area- along with Regina Mills and Lacey French following along. 

For once, he was quite excited for a case. This would provide a slight challenge- not that his claim proved difficult; but it was because he got to finally go up against Miss Lacey French. Both had astounding records. While Gold hadn't lost a case in his eight years of being in New York, Lacey hadn't lost a single case in her time of being a lawyer.

A smirked played upon Adam's lips as he looked over to his watch and the prosecutor's table. _'Tick-tock, Dearie; Wouldn't it be cute to be late?'_ After all, he was curious about this supposed divine goddess of a lawyer. She was a wee babe compared to his resume. And who the hell names their kid Lacey? Had to be a 'cute' nickname of some sorts. She couldn't be seriously trying to par against him.

  
Before Gold could get deeper into his thoughts, the echoing of heels bounced across the walls from behind him. _'Ah, Lacey French'._ He Looked up for a moment only to see the back of a female figure. His eyes went to sky blue heels to bare legs that went uncovered above the knee, all up until a black skirt hung that showed off wonderful curves. With a white blouse tucked into boot; it was a perfect mix of business and casual.

  
Suddenly a pen dropped to the ground, rolling towards the table, and Gold leaned down to get it, "Thank you." A sweet, accented voice said. He simply nodded as he stood up, meeting the most beautiful pair of ocean blue eyes he'd every seen. Suddenly his heart began racing and his blood turned cold. _French_. Now he knew where he heard that name. Every muscle in his body tensed and he became absolutely silent, _"Thank you. Mr Gold."_ Her voice had turned. Poisonous almost, as she waited for the pen. And the lovely sparkle in her eyes had vanished, all but turning him into stone.

  
"It-It's no matter..." He sat back in his chair slowly, hand grasping at his cane. He took a sip of water to quench his dry lips and for the last ten minutes, trying to compose himself for the case. _Gods, was he going dread this case._

 


	2. Bar Blues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A stressed Gold visits the bar.

 

   As if the countless reminders of the past he had weren't already enough. There was always one Adam Gold could drown his stress and sorrows in; The Rabbit Hole. Just as his, Regina's, and Lacey's career had all started in the little town of Storybrooke, so did the bar's franchise. 

   
Only mere hours after the case had opened and was laid out for the judge, it was placed on hold. And only an hour after that, Adam decided to hit the bar- for the rest of evenings of that week.

Just about eight years ago he was sitting at this same bar, drinking his heart away during all his free time. And as he had first sat on one of its seat in the last seven years, he could only give a sad chuckle to himself as he did. _'Probably the same seat too.'_

  It was all going well. _Forgetting her._  Drowning out the horrendous flashbacks that haunted his damned, tired mind. The fighting, the words he said, and the worst part of it all.- Hell, last night he barely had use his cane, his body was so numb. Yes, forgetting was going well. Well, that was until he saw the devil herself walk into the bar on a Thursday night. Her tall dark heels assaulting the wood floor as she prowled, brunette hair done up in a bun, all donned in black jeans and a electric blue pull over. With no one but Ruby Lucas attached to her arm, laughing as they stumbled in. It wasn't surprising to see they were still best friends.

This was not the girl he'd once known; the sweet little French lass would have never stepped place in the bar. Especially not one with the reputation it once had back in the day. No, this was someone completely different. This woman could make an a king feel meek and small, her prowess was so overbearing.  For a moment, he could only stare at her, in both awe and utter confusion. Was this how she got her new little pet name?. He frowned. Just how long had she been like this?

With another round or two of shots, his eyes wandered over to the two girls playing away at the pool table. Lacey's smile was wide as she laughed along with the Lucas girl and the various guys crowding around both her and Ruby. It was her turn now; Lacey aimed going for the kill as he studied her, taking another swig of his whiskey. Suddenly,his eyes met with hers once again, and he froze like a deer in headlights. Resin balls slammed together, and a snarl formed on the lass's face. She'd missed her shot, and he was to blame. Cold, calculating eyes  glared up at him in her hunched position (probably plotting how exactly she'd murder him and hide the body) and Adam was quick to spin around in the bar stool to call the waitress over. "Something stronger Dearie, _much stronger._ "


	3. Loop Hole

It was five in morning when Gold crawled into his office, shutting the door behind him. " _Fuck._.." He groaned out painfully, the noise rambling his fragile skull. With a mind-splitting headache thanks to his hangover, he slowly limped towards the sink of his office bathroom and rummaged through the glass medicine cabinet, turning on the faucet. A single hand scooped up the water and brought it to his lips, the cool water pushing down the Aspirin as he swallowed.

"So do you always get plastered before work, Mr. Gold?" A sweet Australian voice suddenly asked from behind followed by a thud as Adam's head collided with the bottom of the cabinet door. 

When he turned back into his office, his arm chair was now spun facing towards him and there she was; book in her hands, not even bothering to look up. "Do you always trespass into people's offices at five in the morning, _Miss French_?" He scowled, before his voice flared into a mocking tone, "Or should I say Isabelle."

Finally, she lifted her nose out of _his_ book, "I had wondered if you remembered me, Adam."

There was a simple shrug before he limped closer to his desk, pausing to lean on his cane. "Brown hair, beautiful blue eyes, an accent you wouldn't soon forget. How could I?"

"I see you've been doing well since last time." She pointed out, sounding bored, her eyes momentarily scanning another page, only annoying him further.  

 "Yes and surprisingly so have you, Dearie. Must have had a good teacher." The corners of his mouth twitched up as he watched her eyebrow twitch and the book slam shut, dainty red-painted nails wrapped around it.

" _I had two,"_ She snapped. "first one was a real asshole... nothing short of a monster."

Her voice had once again became painful to hear, his chest and stomach clenching.  As if he didn't know that already. He flinched but refused to let her see how the words really took a toll on him. Not that he didn't deserve every bit of pain he experienced. "So I've heard. I'm sure he had his reasons. Now, I know we don't want to be together all day, and I want you up and out of my chair. So what did you want French?" He demanded, the last word being said through clenched teeth.

Lacey could only give a smirk, she was surprised he didn't start foaming at the mouth. "I want to make a little deal." Gold raised his eyebrow in wonder, saying nothing, so she continued. "Whoever has the winning argument, gets to have the other do something for them -nothing illegal, of course."

A hand waved about in the air before returning to its golden handle of rest. "Such as...?"

She puffed out her lower lip in thought for but a moment- she didn't think she'd get this far. "Well, say _you_ win and you decide you never want me in your office again; so be it."

"And just what would you have me do- skin the children you hunt?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out; I promise you won't hate it, much." She smirked, placing down the book and sitting up.

"Well I suppose if it keeps you from snogging my books and meddling in my office, then we have a deal, Miss French." He gave a fake smile while she stood up to take leave, placing the book on the center of his desk.

After walking out the door she stopped herself with her hand on the door frame, leaning to peek her head in with a sweet, innocent smile. "Oh! And do leave my marker on there, I have plans to finish it." He scoffed at her words, picking up the book with his index and thumb, his face twisted in a scowl as if it was a fowl object ridden with disease and placing- more like throwing it on chair to the side of the room. He sat back in his chair, annoyed but mainly confused. Even more so when he heard a the voice call from the hall, "By the way, if you don't want me in here; change where the hell you put your spare key."


	4. A Peace Offering?

_Why was she haunting him?_

Since her little challenge, she had _insisted_ on taunting him. Coming in his office after every single court meeting to snatch and put her damned little nose in all of his books. And he wasn't positive, but he was rather sure he had noticed a few others go missing too. Some days she would take it to her own temporary office down the hall from him (where he never dared to go), and others she decided to steal his chair or take one near him. She was being oddly calm, when they weren't making pokes at each other. He was confused by her actions, which made him even more irritated and annoyed.

He supposed he was even irritated and annoyed  _for_ her too, which should really be the way around. He couldn't wait until this case was over to get away from her!  _Yes, now he was definitely roused up for her._ Ever since she had strutted back into his life he couldn't keep calm, being constantly on edge when he was around the woman. This was not the girl he once knew, _at all_ \- at least she didn't seem like it; that shy interior had been washed away and replaced by a confident,  _evil_ lady and now he was the one playing the poor soul turned into the fish out of water, gasping for air! **_He_** should be one trying to get her attention,  ** _he_** should be the one who kept getting pushed away as he annoyed  _the fuck_ out of her! But he couldn't let her see through this mask, no he would stay the stone cold  _monster_ everyone knew.  _Including her_. 

After another frustrating day of chipping away at this one case, he traveled out to alley of the court house into the late Autumn air. Hands rummaged through pockets of both suit pants and jackets, searching. Leaning against one of the building walls, out came a pack of cigarettes. It was unpleasant addiction, but fortunately wasn't a crutch as it had once used to be. Again, he searched for his pockets for a lighter, frowning when he couldn't find one and sighing to himself.

"Need a light?" A voice chirped. He looked up from the inside of his jacket and down the alley to see the brunette of both his dreams and nightmares.  

"No." Gold snapped bitterly, instantly regretting it as she stomped out the the square she had been smoking and starting after the doors of the building.

"Belle! Wait." She slowly stopped, just about to round the corner, barely looking over at him. "I'm... I'm sorry, I really am. I didn't mean to snap at you." He looked so drained. She studied his eyes for a moment, not saying anything or daring to make a movement until she read him. Finally, her squared shoulders dropped and she walked over, pulling a blue and gold zippo with a rose from her coat pocket.

 Placing a cigarette between his lips, and extending his hand for the light, Lacey shooed it away and leaned in, striking the lighter up between her cupped hand and his face. It was barely a whisper as he said "Thank you."

Instantly, she moved back and lit one herself before curiously watching him, until he looked up at her. "Never knew you smoked."

Smoking was nothing new to him, It had been an on and off bad habit since his days in Scotland. Although, he had stopped for his son, _'but happy times never did last long for Adam Gold, did they?'_ With a lift of his shoulders, he gave a meek answer of  "Long story?" before taking another puff. "Didn't know you did either."

An adorable blush painted her already reddening cheeks, "...I kinda' picked it up during college..." 

They stood in a calming in silence for a while, before Adam finally decided to break it, "Why you out here by yourself?"

A frown graced her features, her eyebrows furrowing. To him it seemed much like an adorable pout, but refused to let that take the meaning from her words. "I'm capable of taking care of myself Mr. Gold, I've been doing so for a while now…"

He sighed, letting a hand run through the locks of his greying hair; the guilt burning from the inside out. "I'm aware of that, but _still._.. " ' _It doesn't affect that I still care about you and your well being...'_

He saw her breath hit itself against the cool air as she spoke, "I'm probably outside for the same reasons you are." He doubted that one. " The office gets stuffy after a while, and well… you know me." Her cheeks, already red from the cold brightened slightly. Red, he always liked that color on her.

Shaking his head with his lips curling in a light smile, he replied. "Yes, the girl who can't stay still unless she has a book in her hand, miracle at that."


End file.
